Fishing reel



SePt- 30, 1952 R. A. JOHNSON 2,612,325

FISHING REEL Filed April 16, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET l fd'm Sept- 30, 1952 R. A. JOHNSON 2,612,325

' FISHING REEL Filed April 16, 19.48 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 llllllll/lll y 1077' Ole/VE V5'.

Patented Sept. 30, 1952 f UNITED .STATES PATENT `(fl'il'fi.ICE .2,612,325 y Y. y

'FIsmNGREEL '-Rolly yAfJh-nson, Los-Angeles, Calif; v Application Aprilia, 194s,.sefia1zNn.' 21,466.

, 1 "Th-isinvention relates to lfishing reels. A mainxobject of the present invention vis ito provide .new and.V useful improvements in fishing reelsyan'dlparticularly in a fishing .reel of the ftypeadapted tohave the `spool shifted relative to yft1ie, .1fodfrom la position whereinthe axis. of the spool lislongitudinal v-of ,therod tol a position wherein the axis of the spool is -transverseof the rod. Another -mainfobjectof the present invention sito provide. a slither'cr flickerarm operable to ;a1low or-prevent line on thespool from slithering-orgspinning off one'end `of the spool. 4 Anothermain object-.of Ltherpresent invention -is tofprovide in a -reelanimproved drive for the spool which/drive` canbe operated -to completely zcfreej Ythe spoolfrom the votherwparts -of the reel rfoncompletely free rotation and -which drivewhen tivirigconnectionfallows .the spool to be rov ta-ted in click-fashion -in onev direction even thoug Atlflefdrive:means.is-locked-or braked.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, v4-which will be-mademanifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed Aout in thefappende'd claims, reference is lhad tojthe ac- 'fcompanying-drawings for an illustrati-Ve embodi- -ment of the invention, wherein:

fembodying-the present invention mounted on a .rod-of conventional structure; l---Fig..2shows"a plan View ofthe apparatus .dis- .closedfin Eig-1;r

A yFig. l3.- disc1oses-a-p1an nviewof vva rod and reel l "..Withthe spool-.of .the reelswung to :the 4.position Vwhe'ifelits' axisis longitudinalaof .the rod;

lfigurefl is a view of part of Fig. 1 showing the n iioIus controlsy 'for the reel with `the controls '1n different .positions thandepicted in Fig.y 1;

f Fig. 5`di`scl'oses a sectional view along lines 5-5 Fig, 6y discloses 4a `sectional view valonglines {Ef-"6"'off1ig. 1; l Fig;.7"dis'c1o`ses a 'View similar toA that shownin "`Fi g'. "6'with theparts in a different position;

' *Figi 'B "is'anh enlarged sectional view along'lines "file-irofjlig. 6l showing `the Ymeans 'for .pivoting fthereelframeiand showing parts rthereoi'in,dot-

v da'shlinesfinoperative position;

""Figegand y y 'Fig;'12is'aperspectiyeview showing thev spool Jimparts thereof;separgatedito'show` the manner fbfconstructiong- 3 Claims. (C1Lf242-847) lReferring to. the accompanying drawings wherein .similar reference characters designate similar 'parts throughout, the reel* of"`the1.;p'r'es "ent 4invention isjm'ounted jon' a rodgenerally' entitled 15.',saidjre'e`l having a'base,fll'whdhgmaybe 'of' any suitable construction, Na. preferrdflnm being of` channel shape'and 1in hayngf''langes 'Il which twithin slots on rod 15in' 4.the ,conventional manner. 1

A reel' frame generally. entitled.'` 18'y fisfrno'junted .on base yi155 V.by .a1ower...ang1e..member-t9 iofjfthe frame which `is pivotedfto base-*t6 by mearisofl a Vpivot-screw 20, vsee Fig.- ywhichffhas:V two 'i ami nuts 2i threaded thereon anda dish-shaped member positionedbetween-fthe. nuts .l 'A-torsionfsprifng-ZS l :is v:positioned"\wi-th.y 'the coils: vthereonr encircling the :inner-nut` and ihasione end' fastened byfany suitable m'eansfto base fland therother end'fthere- "fofV bent to Jfit arbun'd'a? protruding 'member 26 `"which is .fastened .to tang-1e' member-E iliS freind' slldes 251m ends' by'imeansofscrewsss'u'irto the underside f "iframe" frombeingiswunglmore than Vslightly-over 'so thatthe' `'clet'eritfZv lis automatically guided i frame. mounted. thereonv by scr.ews`,38,A .ltheunper suitably fastened together by means of fastening screws 42, see Figs. 9 and 10.

VA spool generally entitled 45 is provided on the reel and comprises a cylinder hub 41 which has a cone shaped member 48 fastened thereto such as by soldering, brazing, welding, etc. A dish shaped member 50 is fastened near the other end of hub 41 and the outer peripheral edges of the dish member 50 ride within a circular groove provided in the outer face of the disc member 40. Spool 45 is rotatably supported on a hollow axle 5| which is rigidly supported at one end from disc member 40. Spool 45 has a driving connection to a floating spindle 53 which spindle isrotatably mounted in hollow axle 5|. The driving connection preferably takes the form of a ratchet drive which may be provided by forming teeth 54 on the end of hub 41 as shown in Fig. 12 which teeth havea one-direction drive with lugs 56 provided on a threaded collar 51, which collar is l' threaded on and pinned at 58 to spindle 53.

Spool 45 is driven by means of a crank 80 through a friction drive and a gear system including a gear 6| which is fxedly mounted on, spindle `53 by any suitable means. "The ratchet drive for the spool is so constructed that there is a positive drive when crank 60 is rotated to reel in the line but is so con- *'structed that if the crank is reversedv and the spool held that the ratchet drive will allow the crank to be rotated, the lugs on the collar 51 riding over the back of teeth 54 with the oating f rspindle 53 reciprocating back and forth. 1f there nis tension on the line tending to pull the line from l' the spool the' lugs are so arranged as to engage the front of the teeth so that hub 41 ofthe spool ris locked through the fioating spindle 53.

-Floating spindle 53 is urged to move to the right 1 .asithespindle is depicted in Fig. 10 by means of a leaf spring 64 which is fastened to disc 40 at one vend by means of a screw v65, the other end being forked and fitting around the floating spindle f betweenthe driven gear 6| and disc 40, as best fsseen inVFigS. 9 and lll. Means are provided to vv,depress the floating spindle to positively disen- 'fgage the spindle from spool 45 and this means preferably comprises a cam lever 61 pivoted at 68 Y to cup-member 4| and which cam lever is so constructed that when moved from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 4, floating spindle 53 is moved from the position shown in Fig. 10 to the position shown in Fig. 11

to positively disengage the spool 45 from the spindle 53. v...the spindle against the resistance of leaf spring -V 64 so that whenever the cam lever is in the posi- 1' tion kshown in Fig. 1 the spindle'and spool will When cam lever 61 is moved, it moves v always be in a driving connection.

l' Now referring to crank 60 and the friction drive .Y previouslyY mentioned, crank 60 is threaded on a hollow hanged driving shaft 10 up against a .i A`shoulder 1| and locked against the shoulder by @means .of a jam collar 13 which is threaded up against crank 60. Hollow shaft 10 is rotatably A slippage 4 felt washer 80 and the flange on hollow driving shaft 10, as shown in Fig. 11. Means for squeezing the gear unit between the felt washer and the flange are provided and comprise a knurled nut 88 which is threaded on slippage shaft 15. By screwing knurled nut 86 up against jam collar 13, the gear unit is squeezed between the felt washer 80 and the flange on hollow driving `shaft 10;'

therefore, a friction drive is established between the driving shaft 10 and driving gear 82. The frictional force can be varied by adjustment of knurled nut 88. An oil passage 81 is provided in slippage shaft 15 and leads to felt washer 80. A screw 89 closes passage 81 at the outer end of slippage shaft 15 and serves to keep the knurled nut on shaft 15. The various vparts above described are so constructed and arranged that the friction of force between knurled nut 86 and jam collar 13 is greater than the combined frictional force between the felt washer 80 vand the driving gear 82, and between the ange on hollow shaft 10 and ratchet wheel 83, so that slipping takes place between the latter named surfaces.

A ratchet 9| is pivoted at 92 to'cup member 4| and engages ratchet wheel 83,4 as shown in full lines in Fig. 9. A curved spring 94 has one end slidably mounted in a pin 95 which pin is fastened to cup member 4| and the other end of curved spring 94 is fastened to the ratchet 9|, as shown in Fig. 9. Curved spring 94 urges ratchet 9| into engagement with the ratchet wheel 83. A ratchet lever 98 is fastened on the outer end of a pin |00 so thatthe ratchet may be flipped into and out of engagement with ratchet wheel 83 and this is accomplished by providing a. rectangular block on the inner end of pin |00 so that when the lever 98 is iiipped to one position block |0| pushes the ratchet away from the ratchet Wheel, as shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 9 and when moved to its other position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 9, the curved spring will push the ratchet into engagement vwith the ratchet wheel. v

A slither arm |05 is pivoted preferably by one end between the cup member 4| and disc 40 of the reel frame and is bent downwardly, as shown in Fig. 10, outwardly and downwardly again to `lap over the outer edges of the cone 48 on spool 45, the marginal edges of spool 4'8 being curved inwardly, as shown in Fig. 10. This slither arm may be swung from the full line position in Fig. 10 to the dot-dash line position shown in Fig.

' l0 Where it is in inoperative position, permitting line on the spool to be whirled over the end of the spool in slither fashion. Means for pivoting arm |05 are provided and preferably comprise a crank |01, see Fig. 9, which is fastened at one of its ends to arm |85 and pivoted to a connect- I ing rod |08, said connecting rod having its other to fit around a second bridging screw 42, as shown l end pivoted to a stud shaft 09,'which stud shaft passes through a slot ||0 provided in cup member 4| and has a depressing lug fastened thereon. Two jam nuts I2 are threaded on stud shaft |09 so that there is proper clearance between the depressiing lug and cup member 4|. A torsion spring I3 is looped at its middle around a bridging screw 42 and has one end thereof bent in Fig. 9, and the other end thereof bears against the jam nuts |2 urging lug ||0 in its uppermost position. When the depressing lug is depressed, the torsion spring |3 is deformed and the slither arm raised from the full line position shown in Fig. 10 to the dot-dashline position and casting may take place withr the line whirlv"rodi "the "retener- -enga'gingfjthe ratchetf-'wheei bemovedont?,ofengagementt'andthe crank "mlialgt'ed 'I in reverse; fashron jand when the liner C"ge',tsjfsoimevvl'rere near the -corre'c'tflength, vcare l'is Usually taken to see thatthecrankr is moved away, fromrthe fisherman so that it will not-inte'rfere'with operationbf any of the controls on the reel. If thefishermanattempts to get a closer approach tothe'lngth'of line' lvvhichhe desires `fhe 'is unable to-'do so'unless he--Lpo'sitions- #the crank more toward him, that \is,-`ovr`ffthe facesf the reel whichistundesirable. l

Inthe present invention, adjustment of the lengthfof line for castingpurposes may, beA` made "-in'ftwo ways: One way" comprises pivotingfthe cam lever'JB'J so" as ttoA f press 4the floatingfspindle l"a'econipli'slie'd: Line is'drawn out until'there is slightly more than desired, the crank being moved to a position whereby it does not cover the face of the reel and held in the remote position and the spool manually grasped and rotated so as to wind the line about the spool. During this manual rotation of the spool, the lugs 5B will ride over the backs of the teeth 54 thereby reciprocating the oating spindle 53 and this operation continued until the proper length of line is obtained. The operation of reversing the spool with the crank 60 remaining stationary nds many uses for adjustment purposes when fishing.

When it is desired to cast, the trip lever 28 is depressed and the reel frame swung approximately 90 so that spool 45 has its axis along the rod. The casting operation is performed in the usual manner with the exception that as the rod is brought forward the depressing lug I Il is depressed so that the slither arm |05 is swung clear of spool 45 permitting the line thereon to whirl over the coned end of the spool in slither fashion with the spool remaining substantially stationary. Therefore, with the line whirling over the spool in slither fashion there is no possibility of backlash. If the fisherman sees that the spinner or lure is going too far he can merely release the depressing lug III whereby the tor- Under these' circumstances, 'cra'nk, 60

"pressingflug'* which? 'isfdep're'ssed `instead; ofi ais'd use and requires little training beczm'seithe'iiieel is designed to accommodate the naturali-'rehenes Jdiliringi(Basti-nig. i

#The rreel of the present `--'i1`1`vntinhas=?= liartisular' utility'` whenl iti-'s desiredi-ftoUsurfacelcst.

In "such cas'e, AthefeastingSop'eratinitakesplatie "bait or lureor spinner remain in"a"partcu-lar-s 1 casting can4 "be easily--aocomplished "with" mairiffnumiresults'.y f

-Thereel-'of present inventitralsofilri for awhile with the boat moving on;

45 stance, f in swordshing where ytheswodfrsliflrst lhitsm-strikes'the-1oantenalmemnrcles-and mes "back fto swallow the bait,v -it-isf desirable't me -ineans-be e provided whereby 'the bait-can zbe'let temporarily in the spot where the Swordfish rst strikes it. With the reel of the present invention this may be easily accomplished by letting the line drag back of the boat with the ratchet in place and keeping the thumb in the proximity of the cam lever 61 and when a Swordfish strikes the bait the lever is ipped to depress the oating spindle to disengage the spool whereby the spool is perfectly free and the line reels outwardly allowing the bait to stay approximately in the position where it was rst struck until the swordsh circles n and returns.

In other instances a fisherman may desire to drag the spool or line by thumbingr the spool as in present practice and in cases where great distance is not desired. This may be very easily accomplished with the present invention by pivoting the cam lever 61, disengaging the spool 45 from the floating spindle 53 so that the spool is freely rotatable, then making the casting operation and keeping the thumb on the spool. Since the spool is freely rotatable and is not geared to any gears or other parts, a greater distance in casting is' allowed by a thumb operation than in prior devices Where the inertia of the moving parts entered into the operation. Also, since the inertia of the other parts of the spool are eliminated, there is fas bass ',casting,

.'less i chance for backlash .than in .the ordinary manner. of casting. f 4Sofit vWill beiseen, thatithe present invention yprovidesY a l"universal reel which. can be pused for `alljkincls of. fishing "including light casting such lake fishing, pier, surf or boat -`shin'g.1f. 1 4-f-:Various-changes may be made in the details of construction Without departing from Vthe spirit fand-scope of the invention as defined by the apfpended claims. f f f f 4 Icla,im`:VV f .Q

1. In a fishing reel, a gear housing, a shaft hav- .inggone endextending into the gear housing, a pinion on the shaft in; the housing, a gear meshing. with' the'pinion, means for rotating the gear to drive the pinion and thus rotate the shaft, the `shaft-being axially slidable relative to the housing Vbetween limits which *cause the gear and pinion` to remain constantly in mesh, a sleeve secured tothe'housing and disposed about the portion of the'shaft that projects from the gear housing, a

*spool rotatable on the sleeve, a clutch between .the outer end of the spool andthe outer end of Ythe-'fshaft, and meanson the gear housing for axially shifting the shaft to cause the clutch to -disengage and thus free the spool from the shaft.

- 2. In a'shing reel, a gear housing, a shaft havingonefend extending into the gear housing, a

pinion on the shaft in the housing, a gear meshing with the pinion, means for rotating the gear to drive the pinion and thus rotate the shaft, the shaft being axiallyslidable relative to the housing -between limits which cause the gear and pinion :to remain constantly in mesh, yasleeve secured l.to the housingand disposed about the portion of the shaft that projects from the gear housing, a

spool rotatable on the sleeve, a clutch between the .outer end of the-spool and the outer end of the shaft, spring means urging the shaft into an axial position wherein the clutch is engaged, and means on the gear housing `for shifting the shaft axially against the urging ofy the spring means to dis- .engage the clutch and thus free the spool from .the shaft.` Y

A. B Inanshingreel, a Vbase applicable to a .fishing lrod, a gear housing rotatably mounted .thereon for rotation relatively thereto between limits, a sleeve Vprojecting from one side of the ile` of this patent:

housing, a shaft rotatable in the sleeve andv'exsleeve, a clutch'qbetween the outer end of the.

shaft andthe spool, a pinion on the shaft within the housing, the shaft being axially slidablewithinthe sleeve between limits to engage and disengage the clutch, a gearwithin the housing constantly meshing with the pinion, a crank on Vthe opposite side .of the housing from the sleeve for rotating the gear and thus driving the pinion and shaft, a second crank on the same sideof the housing asl the mentioned crank, means operable by the second crank for axially shifting the shaft, a slither arm rotatably mounted on the housing. .normallyl overlying the spool and extending inwardly toward the axis of rotation of the spool overy the outerend thereof, said slither arrn being adapted upon rotation to completely disengagethe spool to permit line on the spool to be axially unwound therefrom, means movably mounted on the same side. of the housing as the cranks for rotating the Slither arm, and spring means urging the slither arm into its normal position. HOLLYy A. JOHNSON.

runninENOESl CITED The following references are of record in the lUlIITQElD STATES PATENTS Number Name Y Date 1,114,084. iVells Oct. 20,1914 1,150,575 Blodgett Aug. 17, 1915 1,577,812 Robinson et al. Mar. 23, 1926 1,617,543 Roberts Feb.,15, 1927 2,120,190 Rickardset al. Junejl, 1938 2,130,671 Maynes Sept. 20, 1938 2,352,138v Torrencev June 20, 1944 vIfOltEIGrN PATENTS y Number Country Date 211,406 Great Britain Feb..21 1924 383,423 AGreat Britain Nov. 17, 1932 828,000? France Mar. 6, 1938 49,548,v France Mar. 1, 1939 l l, (Addition to No. 828,000). 882,204

France Mar. 21, `1.943 

